Account-book



(No Model.)

B. H. DOAN. ACCOUNT BOOK.

No. 541,430. Patented June 18, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ACCOUNT-BOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed February 6, 1893.

Patent No. 541,430, dated June 18, 1895.

Serial No. 461,094 (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it' may 0071 0077 0:

Be itknown that I, ELLIS H. DOAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Coatesville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Account- Books, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of account books in which each leaf is ruled for a number of names and has for each name a number of columns indicating debits and credits, the object of my invention being to provide such a book with a simple and convenient device whereby the labor of ascertaining the aggregate amount of credits at the end of a day, or other business period, is very much lessened, and the operation correspondingly facilitated, the device being also of value in transferring accounts from page to page. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view illustrating a page of a balance-ledger having my improved attachment applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a rear view illustrating the preferable method of securingthe attachment in place, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view.

As shown in the drawings, each leaf of the ledger has a central column A for the names of the depositors, and on each side of this central column is a series of parallel columns representing the debits and credits of each depositor for a number of successive days.

According to the present practice, the person in charge of the book, at the close of business on each day, transfers to the credit side of the column representing the next day, the amount remaining to the credit of each depositor, all of the credits having to be thus transferred whether or not they have been affected by the debits and credits representing thebusiness of the day, in order that the credit columns may be summed up in balancing the books for the day.

As but a very small proportion of the accounts are varied by the business of any one day, a very large amount of this labor is devoted to the simple transfer of the same sum from one column to the other, and it is with the idea of rendering unnecessary this large percentage of the labor of transfer that my invention has been devised.

The invention consists of a movable credit column strip which is represented at A, and

which can be moved across the leaf of the book and caused to register with the credit columns of different days in succession.

In starting the book, as many of these slips are employed as may be rendered necessary by the list of accounts, and in first 0 atering upon,

the book the credit of each depositor, a corresponding credit is entered upon the strip, this latter entry being preferably made in pencil or other medium which can be readilyerased, the strip occupying a position over the cot umn next to that in which the original entry is made.

At the close of business each day the entry of credits upon the movablestrip is changed to accord with the debits and credits repre senting the business of the day. Hence it is necessary to correct, on the movable strip, only such accounts as are actually changed by reason of the days business. The strip is moved along on the leaf from day to day, or is shifted from leaf to leaf as time goes on, but at the close of business each day the strip always indicates the proper credit of each depositor and the summing up of these credits will accurately represent the aggregate credits at the end of the day, while the work of transfer at the close of business is but a small fraction of what would be required if all of the credits had to be transferred from one column to another.

Various means may be employed for securing the strip Ain position upon the leaf. For instance, the strip may be in the form of an endless ribbon extending completely around the leaf, or it may have suitable clips or fastenings at top and bottom to engage with the edges of the leaf, or the strip may even be unconfined in some cases and lie between the leaves of the book. I prefer, however, the construction shown in Fig. 2, on reference to which it will be observed that the strip is secured at each end to the ends of a loop a of tape, ribbon, or other narrow web, and that these loops are united by a thread or cord 1), the advantage of which method of fastening is, that while the strip is prevented from twisting or getting out of line on the leaf, the accounts on the back of the leaf are not hidden or obstructed, the securing device, moreover,

2' I Y I 541,430

being perfectly flexible andpermitting the' ready slipping of the strip from one leaf, and

itsapplication to another. Although I have described my invention as 5 applicable to a balance ledger such as used by banks in which the accounts are those of 16 positors, it will be evident that the invention is applicable to account books generally in which a number of separate accounts are car- [O ried from day to day.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination of an account book having individual account columns running in 15 one direction, and columns for each day or 20 contact with the leaf of the book and movable across the said day columns, whereby, at the end of each day, the only credits to transfer to this strip-are those which have been affected by the days business, substantially as specified. 1

2. A ledger or like account book having individual account columns running in one direction and columns for each day or other business period running in a direction at right angles thereto, in combination'with a credit strip upon which entries may be made and erased as desired, and means for holding said strip in sliding frictional contact with the leaf of the book, saidmeans comprising a loop at each end of the strip and a thread connecting these loops on the back of the leaf, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELLIS H. DOAN.

Witnessesi V FRANK E. BEOH'I'OLD, JOSEPH H. KLEIN. 

